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Private equity firm General Atlantic and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd are among the anchor investors that have bet on Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which runs hypermarkets under the D-Mart brand, ahead of its initial public offering.

Avenue Supermarts raised Rs 561 crore ($84 million) by selling 18.76 million shares at Rs 299 apiece to anchor investors, the company said in a stock-exchange filing on Tuesday.

PremjiInvest, the investment arm of Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji, as well as Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, venture capital firm Volrado Venture Partners and a dozen mutual funds were among the other anchor investors.

The strong interest from anchor investors gains importance as D-Mart becomes the first multi-line retail company to float an IPO in four years. The last one to go public was V-Mart in 2013. A successful listing of D-Mart could open the window for other peers to test the public market.

Anchor investors are institutional investors who accept a one-month lock-in period for a sizeable allocation of shares and support a public offering. Their participation highlights investors’ confidence in an IPO and sets a benchmark for the investor community at large.

Avenue Supermarts’ IPO begins on Wednesday and closes on Friday. The company is seeking a valuation of as much as Rs 18,660 crore ($2.8 billion). At that valuation, the company would surpass the combined $2.5 billion market capitalisation of four of its well-known peers—Shoppers Stop Ltd, V-Mart Retail Ltd, V2 Retail Ltd and Future Retail Ltd.

The company set a price band of Rs 295-299 a share for the offering. Two grey market dealers told VCCircle that shares of Avenue Supermarts were quoting at a premium of Rs 230-235 apiece above its price band. The grey market is an over-the-counter market where shares are traded before they are listed on a stock exchange.

The IPO will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 1,870 crore ($280 million). It will sell about 62 million shares, which will see a dilution of an about 10% stake. Avenue Supermarts will use almost 20% of the net proceeds to repay debt and a part of it to open new stores.